*Rouge's POV*
"Anyone wants to go to the lake?" I asked when everyone was sitting down.

"Rouge. This isn't the time to plan a hangout. We are waiting for Ms. Vanilla." Silver stood up, but I ignored him and sat on top of the teachers desk.

"Oh, relax, sweetie. She's in a meeting so it's okay." I waved my hand in a dismissive way. "Mephiles, make your boyfriend sit down."

"Leave him alone, Rouge." Mephiles rolled his eyes, then walked to Silver and pulled him to the back of the class with him.

"Swimsuit time?" Blaze asked. "I'm down." Blaze looked at Amy and smiled at her. "Won't it be fun?"

"I - Yes. It will." Amy blushed. 

"Oh, come on. Are you seriously shy to be seen in a swimsuit by Blaze? She's already seen you in one before." I laughed.

"When we weren't dating. Now it's different." Amy whined and covered her face.

"I think it would be fun. I have a swimsuit I've been wanting to use." Lucy raised her hand and spoke as if I was the teacher. At the back of the class, I could see Spike suddenly brightly blushing after what Lucy said.

"Yeah. Why not?" Manic shrugged. Soon enough, most of the class had accepted to go except for Mephiles, Silver, Shadow, Sonic, Mighty, and Espio.

"This weekend it is then. I'll make a group chat with everyone later today, then." I smiled, then the door opened, and Vanilla walked in. I got off her desk, which she didn't seem to mind I had just been sitting on and walked to my desk.

The rest of the week we spent talking about our trip and what we would take for food, or whatever we would do for fun.

*Shadow's POV*
"What are you doing here?!" I shouted as Rouge barged into my room on Saturday and walked to my closet, then started grabbing some clothes for me and threw them at my face.

"Put those on. I already told Vanilla and Cream. Cream is going with us as well. Tails is waiting for her downstairs." Rouge said as she started grabbing more clothes and packed them up on my backpack, which she had dumped all of my books and school stuff on my bed. She grabbed a towel and shoved it in the backpack as well.

"Why the hell is that fox here?" I asked and stood up from my bed. "And I'm not going to the lake with you and those idiots." I tossed the clothes back at her.

Rouge took in a deep breathe then looked at me with a terrifying smile. "You're going." I stopped moving. "Or are you going to let Tails alone with Cream at the lake?" She dropped that smile and shrugged at me.

"Why does that matter?" I crossed my arms.

"He likes her." Rouge explained. My ear flickered, and I clenched my fists at that.

"What?" I asked. Rouge tossed me the clothes again, and I caught them this time.

"Tails likes Cream. You didn't know that?" I shook my head. She shrugged and put my backpack on the bed. "I mean, you can stay home if you want." Her phone buzzed, and she looked down at it and smiled. "Sonia and Manic are forcing Sonic to go."

"He wasn't going?" I asked as I pushed Rouge out of my room, then started changing once I closed the door.

"No. According to Manic, Sonic is deadly afraid of water. He only told me and Tails, though. Don't tell anyone else." She said from outside my door. I put on the black tank top Rouge chose for me and the grey basketball shorts, then walked out of the room with my backpack. 

"Fine." I rolled my eyes and walked to the living room where I saw Tails and Cream hugging. I narrowed my eyes at Tails, causing him to tense up and pull away.

"Ready? Let's go!" Cream started marching to the door excitedly.

"Wait. Did you pack any clothes to change into or a towel?" I stopped Cream. She looked at me and shook her head. "What is that?" I asked when I noticed her carrying a picnic basket.

"I made sandwiches and packed up some snacks for everyone!" She smiled then passed the basket to Miles as she ran to her room. A few minutes later, she came back with a beach bag full of her clothes she would change into and a towel.

"Be careful, guys! Have fun!" Vanilla said from the kitchen. "Make sure nothing happens to her, Shadow."

I walked to Vanilla as the rest of them walked outside. "Did you know he liked her?"

"They've been friends since before we adopted you, and he was always very shy around her." She nodded with a smile. "I think he's good for her. Don't be too mean to him. Maria would have dated someone at some point as well." She brought her up, causing me to turn and look away.

"What if he hurts her?" I asked Vanilla. She walked closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"To love someone is to give them the power to break your heart but trusting them not to. And if she gets hurt, then I know she will be okay. Taking a chance on love, even when it hurts, shapes us on who we are and helps us grow." She leaned down and hugged me. "I hope I see you find someone soon. You have a big heart, Shadow. It's okay to break down your walls for someone. It's okay to trust someone."

I slowly nodded. She pulled away, and I left, following Rouge, Cream, and Miles to Rouges car as she drove us to the lake. I didn't care for vehicles since I could easily get there, but since Cream was here, I got on.

Once there, I realized the whole class, even those who said they were not going to go, still went. I sighed and got off the car, then waited for Cream. She ran with Miles to go pick a spot, and I stayed behind with Rouge.

"Hey. Cream is here, too?" I turned to see Faker and his siblings walking towards us. "Hey, Shadz. Nice to see you came. At least I wasn't the only one who got dragged here."

"Rouge told Cream, and she wanted to come, so I had to." Faker wrapped an arm around me like he usually did. I rolled my eyes but didn't push him away. I had learned by now that he was never going to leave me alone.